Yellowing leaves on tomato seedlings

[Todd Ziegler]

My tomato seedlings are getting yellow. The seedlings are 3 weeks old and I am using jiffy pellets as the soil medium. These are the 2nd set of leaves and not the first set of sprouting leaves. I water at the bottom and I have a well for my water sources. My well water is about 7.5ph and my gh/kh suggest just slightly on the hard side. I am not using any fertilizer and the plants are just slightly out growing the jiffy pellets but I will be hardening them off at the end of the next week (8 days from now.) I have never encountered this problem and I have been starting my own plants for years. However this is the first year using the smaller jiffy pellets and I usually transfer them to bigger pots but I decided to do it different this year to save money and time. Can anyone give me a few of there opinions on what I should do? I am leaning towards using a weak solution of Millers microplex to my next watering. Maybe. 5 grams to a half gallon of water.

 

[so lucky]

I don't have real good luck with jiffy pellets, but I have used a few over the years. If you could pot them up in 4" pots, and give them some weak fertilizer, you might be able to bring them around.
One thought---I don't know how many you are talking about, but even planting them temporarily in a tray, side by side, would counteract the strange effect the jiffy pots have on slower growing seedlings.
I have found that jiffy pots work ok when planting something quick growing like cukes or zucchini,but not so good with slower growing stuff. This is mostly opinion, not based on anything but my results.
I sure hope you find a remedy for your issues. Welcome to the forum. Others here will have some other suggestions.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Thanks for the response. I believe I have reached the maximum size for these jiffy pellets. In all the years past I always up potted them and I started them earlier. I think I will go back to what I was doing in the past. For this year I am going to use a little fertilizer and harden them off this week.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't use the jiffy pellets but my first thought is are they too wet or too dry? My biggest challenge in potted plants and seed starting usually involves too much or too little moisture. I'm always suspicious about that.

My second thought, especially if they are outgrowing the pellets, is that the roots are either root-bound or drying out as they try to grow out of the pellets. I don't know how many different varieties you have to try to keep them separate, but instead of up-potting them individually, maybe put the same varieties in a tray side by side and cover the pellets with a potting soil. You could even use garden soil but I find that harder to control moisture and you introduce weed seeds. Still I up-potted some tomatoes into garden soil this year and it worked.

If you have been using that well water in the past, the pH should not be an issue. It could be a fertilizer issue so a weak fertilizer mixture in the next watering may help. If you have compost, maybe use a compost tea. But your difference this year is not just the jiffy pellets but you are not up-potting like you normally do. It's hard to do this stuff over the internet, but think it might be a root issue.

Welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

I like the idea of putting potting soil over them. I have them all individually labeled so using the potting soil will work. I have already mixed up a half gallon of the millers microplex to use also. I love this forum. I wish I would have found it sooner. Everyone is so nice.

 

[catjac1975]

I had some tomato seedlings turn a bit yellow. They were transplanted into coir pots. I am thinking the same thing happened with those pots last year. I moved them from grow lights into a sunny greenhouse window and gave them a bit of liquid fertilizer. Kelp I think.

 

[Hal]

Jiffy pellets have pretty much no nutrition at all so additional liquid feed is required once the seedlings exhaust the seed stores they have.

 

[thistlebloom]

I did exactly what Ridge suggested one year. I put the peat pots in a deep plastic box and filled it with soil. The roots were able to grow through the pot and I had no problem transplanting.

Welcome to TEG Todd!

 

[baymule]

I love this forum. I wish I would have found it sooner. Everyone is so nice.

Well, you're here now and we are glad to have you! Welcome to the forum, hope you are a blabberfingers who likes to take pictures. We talk a lot, post lots of pictures and always have room for more folks! Did I mention pictures?? We love pictures!!

 

[ninnymary]

Welcome Todd! You are a much serious gardener than me since I don't start things from seeds. My garden is so tiny that I just buy a few 6-packs.

Mary